1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation detecting apparatus and a radiation detecting system to be used in a medical diagnosis equipment, a non-destructive inspection equipment, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, research and development have been widely conducted on a digital radiation detecting apparatus including a phosphor layer as a wavelength converter for converting an X-ray into visible light and a two-dimensional photodetector including photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner. The digital radiation detecting apparatus has advantages in that image characteristics are excellent and data can be shared by loading the data in a computer system in a network due to the digital property of the data.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-284053 discloses a radiation detecting apparatus in which an upper portion and a side portion of a phosphor layer are covered with a protecting film made of an organic material, and in an outer peripheral area of a photoelectric conversion panel, a resin frame is provided in a manner that the resin frame is brought into contact with a surface of a passivation film and a surface of the protecting film.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-52986 discloses a radiation detecting apparatus in which a frame member is provided so as to define a phosphor layer forming area and function as a phosphor protecting layer, and a phosphor protecting layer is provided on a phosphor layer provided in the frame member and having a columnar crystal structure, and on the frame member. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-284053 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-52986, peeling of the phosphor layer is prevented by improving moisture-proofness for the phosphor layer through use of the resin frame member provided around the phosphor layer. However, in the radiation detecting apparatus including the phosphor layer of the columnar crystal that is formed on a light receiving portion of the photoelectric conversion panel, the phosphor layer is formed by vapor deposition in a high temperature vacuum condition, and after the formation, the phosphor layer is taken out from a vapor deposition furnace in a room temperature condition. For this reason, a significant thermal stress is exerted particularly on a portion near a periphery of the photoelectric conversion panel, and hence the phosphor layer is liable to be peeled at the portion near the periphery of the photoelectric conversion panel.
In the field of a medical diagnosis equipment, in particular, a narrower frame, i.e., a shorter distance from an end portion of the photoelectric conversion panel to a detecting unit for detecting a radiation is required. In particular, in a radiation detecting apparatus for mammography, a short distance of, for example, 2 mm or less is required as a distance from a chest wall to the detecting unit.